BookBairn

Wow! It's been a year since I started writing this blog, creating my own little nook on the internet, sharing the stories we've loved, the books we've read and a little bit of ourselves and our life too! BookBairn, the baby, has changed from a teeny bundle of joy who happily poured over the pictures in her books into a teeny whirlwind of fun who no longer poses easily for photos but adores books more than anything else and will independently turn the pages of her books for hours a day.

It is perhaps a poignant moment to say that this morning she read to us from a book for the first time. She turned each page of her library book and told Daddy and I who was in the picture, a word or two about what happened and then moved on to the next page and repeated the process. She's officially a reader. Not just a book-lover but a reader. I'm so proud of her.

And perhaps it might sound crass but I'm pretty proud of myself too. I've raised a reader. I know, she's still little, she's only 18 months old but she's already a reader. We spend more time sharing stories and reading, colouring or stickering books in our house than playing with any other toys. And it's her choice. I'm proud that she has a passion for books. Her favourite days out are trips to the library or the bookshop. The most exciting moment of the day is when I tell her 'post's been' and she rushes to the door to collect her latest book parcel from the postman. And bedtime story is the simplest and most magical time in out house where Daddy, Mummy and BookBairn curl up in her room and choose a story or two from her 'Favourite's Shelf' to read together in those last sleepy moments of the day.

Would books have become so central to our lives without this blog? Honestly, probably not. We'd still go to the library, we'd still get the occasional book in the post, we'd still have bedtime story. But knowing that I'm going to share these moments with you readers makes me think about them more meaningfully. Realise their importance. Not just letting them pass us by as part of our daily routines. So firstly I want to say 'Thank you' to you. Loyal readers. New readers. Book fans. BookBairn fans. You make every 'bookish' moment in our life more significant, relevant and valuable. So, from the bottom of my heart, thank you, thank you, thank you! To those of you who also follow on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter: thank you! And especially to those friends who have come across BookBairn and I in the library, soft play, park, etc and recommended a book, or said you liked a post, or bought a book based on our recommendations: thank you!

There are a few special thank yous I want to share, so here goes:

To Papa BookBairn who has commented on every post I've ever written, your love and support is invaluable. Thank you!

To Gma BookBairn who instilled a love of books in me that I have now proudly passed on to our little BookBairn. Of all the family traits we could have shared, I'm glad she's inherited this one! Thank you!

To Daddy BookBairn whose coding expertise has rescued me from a jam on more than one occasion. And for coining the phrase 'BookBairn'. And for everything else. Thank you!

To Booklover Jo and Book Monster Ally without whom I would have never managed to navigate the world of Twitter and who have provided me with mountains of love and support over the past year. I have discovered so many fabulous books because of you both, explored the world of kidlit in our twitter book group and have found two fabulous friends. Thank you!

To Mama Mummy Mum whose Read With Me linky has helped me connect with bloggers and readers who love to read and write about the same things as me. Thank you! And to those bloggers who share, comment and like: Thank you!

To a large group of kidsbookstagrammers who make me smile on a daily basis: edenbooksknits, afriendlyaffair, spiky_penelope, happily.ever.elephants, kate.eccles, windingbooktrail, clairehanke, readingisourthing, book.nerd.mommy, ohcreativeday, the.book.report, hereweeeread, chaoscastleuk, sobookinggood, kidlitreaders, mummybexm, usbornestagram, thebooksniffer, picturebooksblogger, kidlitpicks, kidsbookstagram amongst many others. Thank you!

To our postie who carries a pile of heavy books to us on a weekly basis. Thank you!

To our lovely library staff who happily greet us and stack up all our requests, who love it when BookBairn gives them a smile and don't bat an eyelid at her loud squeals of joy as she discovers new books. Thank you!

To all the fabulous publishers and authors and book subscription boxes who have sent us books. We love working with you and getting book post so a huge thank you! But particularly to the incredible Antonia Wilkinson who has sent us dozens and dozens of books from a library of publishers. Our bookshelves are bowing under the weight of all those books. Thank you!

To a collection of authors and illustrators who have made me feel valued and appreciated: Jo Lodge, Emma Dodd, Sophy Henn, Gillian Gamble, Sarah Massini. Thank you!

But most of all...

To BookBairn who I love with all my heart. I'm so proud of the little lady you are becoming. You inspire me. You teach me. You make it all worthwhile. Thank you.

I hope I haven't missed someone from this long list of thank yous. But just in case: thank you!

Thank you for reading, I'm off to eat some 'bloggerversary' chocolates!

Thanks, Mummy and BookBairn xx

Just a quick post to link to a review of the book 'The Racehorse Who Wouldn't Gallop' I wrote with the children from my old school (as in pre-career break school) for the TES website. The children really loved this book and they told me delightful stories of getting in trouble for reading too late at night, or reading the book under the desk in class. They were so captivated. It was also lovely that the author, Clare Balding, shared our review on Twitter - the children will be thrilled.

Here's the link if you have a chance:
https://www.tes.com/news/school-news/breaking-views/children-galloped-through-its-pages-class-book-review

Also, you'll not that I didn't pose for a photo with these cute kids, after the last TES review photo I thought I should stick to my strength behind the camera!

Click on the image above to find this book on amazon.co.uk *This post contains Affiliate links.

Sometimes I randomly pick up a book and almost instantly fall in love with it. And occasionally that book happens to engage BookBairn's little imagination more than most. Our current favourites can be found here. It's odd how often we agree but then sometimes I think I've found something fabulous and she just doesn't take to it - we don't share these on the blog as, after all, our reviews reflect what we actually enjoy reading.

I recently picked up 'Tickle My Ears' by Jorg Muhle at the Edinburgh Book Festival (which was awesome, I'll probably write a full blog post at the end of the festival) and I couldn't resist it. I was absolutely delighted to read this with BookBairn as she really 'got it' right from the first read.

This is a story about a little rabbit who is getting ready for bed. A book you think you've read many times before, right? Wrong! This is so clever. It's interactive. Not with flaps, or touch and feel, or loop-the-loops. It simply asks your child to join in with the routine. And even at 17 months, BookBairn can follow the simple instructions. Have a look at the video below to see what I mean.

A video posted by BookBairn and Mummy (Kim) (@bookbairn) on Aug 17, 2016 at 6:30am PDT

When we first see Little Rabbit he is faced away from us, clutching his blanket (and possibly rubbing his eyes) - tell tale signs for anyone that it's bedtime. The text says 'tap him on the shoulder - will he turn around?' and as you turn the page you see his buck-tooth smile, holding his toothbrush getting ready for bed. For little ones like BookBairn they've had that first reward! Follow the instructions and the bunny does something new. Clap you hands to get him to put his pajamas on. Say 'Hoppity-hop' and he hops into bed. Tickle his ears. Rub his back. Give him a kiss. And finally turn out the light. What a lovely bedtime routine. Though for us, it's a shame that story time is missed out. But I'm not quite sure how you could make that work so it's forgiven.

Little Bunny is truly adorable and his expression remains relatively simple throughout the book, except when he is having a huge yawn! There are no backgrounds and the details remain quite simple, usually revolving around the object you are interacting with like his pajamas or blanket. There is a simple colour palette and no textured elements (which I have seen other reviewers have said they would prefer so that children have something to 'feel' when they interact with the book). I think this is to the book's advantage. It means little ones can focus purely on the task at hand and that's getting Little Rabbit to bed. BookBairn certainly didn't miss them and is quite happy to stroke Little Bunny's back without feeling his fluffy fur or smooth pajamas. There is nothing to take away from the interaction. And, for me, that's what makes this book so clever.

So clever, in fact, that I immediately googled the author/illustrator to find out if there was more and there is another title in German. So I contacted the publisher and they said the English version would be available in January. And I can't wait to share with BookBairn in helping Little Bunny with his bath time routine.

This a such a lovely book and would be great for reinforcing bedtime routine with little ones who, let's put it politely, resisting! It's also one of those board books that's a lovely size for little readers to 'play' with by themselves and I see BookBairn doing this already. It's cute, it's quirky, it's interactive. What's not to love?!

Hope you have as smooth a bedtime routine as Little Rabbit - though I'd also hope you have a story or two in there!

Sweet dreams,

Mummy and BookBairn xx

Click on the image above to find this book on amazon.co.uk *This post contains Affiliate links.

*DISCLAIMER* I was given our book for free for review purposes, however, all words and opinions are my own.

So Olympic season has begun and it's probably the only time I really get into watching sport on TV (except Wimbledon - who doesn't get swept up in that?) and I've already enjoyed watching a lot of the swimming, gymnastics and athletics so far. It's a shame that time zone wise it doesn't work out all the well for watching it live but I hope it won't damper by enthusiasm.

I love how inspiring Olympic athletes are (unless they are doping - obviously). But the true athletes are incredible to watch. The amount of discipline and determination - I feel bad eating cookies as I type this. (Not really - I never feel bad eating cookies!) I read recently about the story of Yusra Mardini who won her butterfly heat representing the refugee team; an incredible young woman who to prevent her boat (full of twenty people) capsizing jumped in and swam for three and half hours towing the boat before finally reaching land. Words cannot describe my admiration for this incredible young woman.

Another athlete set to inspire little ones is Mo Farrrah who literally picked himself up after a fall and went on, pushing himself to his limits, to win another gold medal! Mo is also looking to inspire young readers to achieve their dreams in his new picture book 'Ready Steady Mo!'. Written with the support of Kes Grey (who co-wrote My Most Anticipated Book of the Year, Oi Dog!) and illustrated by Marta Kissi, Mo wants all little ones to don their trainers and run!

This is a fabulous rhyming tale that will sweep you away with it's energy and rhythm! This is such a fun book to read: they rhymes roll of the tongue and will have you racing through the pages. The book has a very simple premise and is more of a poem than a true story but that doesn't take away from the fun reading it. On the first spread we are introduced to 'little Mo' who engages the reader in a few questions about what they like to do and how they get there. Suggesting that you "run!!!!" "Run in your slippers, run in your vest, run in your onesie, run and get dressed." Run everywhere. Except in school, of course. Mo reminds little ones not to run in class. My favourite page shows a path and the words travel round: "run in a straight line, run round some bends, run with your family, run with your friends." The words loop the loop as you run around the bends - so cute! Mo encounters a menagerie of animals on his run and you run alongside cheetahs, whales, dogs penguins, even a snail! And in the end, as you run out of energy and cool down on the spot, he says if you run out of puff you can do the Mobot! Fabulous. And full of energy.

A video posted by BookBairn and Mummy (Kim) (@bookbairn) on Aug 16, 2016 at 12:02pm PDT

The illustrations in the book are bold and vibrant, set on bright coloured pages with simplistic backgrounds the attention is on little Mo and his running buddies. The feeling of movement is captured in the images with props and 'speed lines' and a building group of runners as we turn the pages. My particular favourite is the page where the children are running along with kites following int he sky behind them. It gives it a real sense of speed and movement. I also love that the book features characters from all different backgrounds, obviously Mo himself is originally from Somali and the children who run alongside him are all different colours and ethnicities. (You will know I like seeing books that are representative of society with characters from all different backgrounds if you read my post We Need Diverse Books.) And the final page of all the children (and alien and some animal) who joined Mo on his run all doing the Mobot is a lovely uplifting image that children can copy as they read.

Generally, I avoid 'celebrity' published books - I'm a bit of a book snob about it more than anything else, not having read many either for children or adults (there's an interesting discussion here if you are interested). I think I worry that a 'celebrity' written book may simply be a great name on a cover to sell books but lacks much of a story inside. And there are so many good books to read I don't want to take the risk. But I digress slightly from topic...

Whilst endorsed and starring a celebrity in Mo Farah this book is anything but lacking! It is funny, charming and encourages little ones to exercise and families to read together. Brimming with energy this is a fun book for little readers and runners! On the opening page, Mo writes a letter to the reader saying that he loves to see his kids reading and enjoying a good book and that he can't wait to find our what you think of his. Well, Mo, we loved it! Great job. Congratulations on your race win Mo! And on the book - it's a gold medal from us!

Ready Steady Go on read this book with Mo!

Mummy and BookBairn

*DISCLAIMER* I bought this book myself. I even pre-ordered it!
Click on the image (right) to find this book on amazon.co.uk *This post contains Affiliate links.

If you follow us on social media, or have read our posts mentioning it (here and here) you will have noticed that BookBairn has a favourites shelf above the cuddle couch in her room, where she chooses her stories for nap times and bed times. I initially asked Daddy BookBairn to put up the shelves because it was a good way to display lots of our lovely books but it has, in turn, become a practical way to give BookBairn access to a smaller pile of books to making choosing easier. (It also allows me to swap out the books when we've read the same ones over and over and need a wee refresh.)

So I thought it would be nice to have this page to keep an updated list of our 'Top Five Favourites' and that way your can see the books that we revisit again and again.So here they are (in no particular order):

Nibbles: the Book Monster by Emma Yarlett
BookBairn truly adores Nibbles the Book Monster! He is often dragged through (it's quite a large book for such a little person to carry) to the living room and she will spend twenty to thirty minutes pouring over the pages, flipping through over and over. There aren't many books which have kept her as occupied as this one. She loves shouting "Nibbles gone!" and shutting him back in his crate at the end. I think she really understands this story. She certainly understands this character! To read our full review click here.

Pom Pom the Champion by Sophy Henn
You may have seen that BookBairn had her first ever big grump when I returned two of the Pom Pom books to the library - whoops. She then went a bit bonkers because she couldn't read "Pom Pom chute" (a chute is Scots for a slide) which describes her favourite page. I had to go back to the library the next day and re-borrow it! But this weekend I bought BookBairn her own copy and got it signed by the lovely Sophy Henn at the Edinburgh Book Festival (which is awesome by the way!). Read our Pom Pom review here.

Oi Dog! by Kes and Claire Grey and Jim Field
So this was my Most Anticipated Book of the Year and BookBairn loves it! It's the first book title she's managed to say in full and whenever we have visitors to the house she has grabbed this one of her shelf and made the grown ups read it! I also met Kes Grey at the Book Festival and he was charming and I got this one signed too. More details here.

Spot by Eric Hill
Another book that we read a lot at the moment is a collection from the Spot series by Eric Hill. She loves the flaps. She loves finding Spot. We've read it so many times she knows the story by heart. This copy has two stories in it and we usually alternate which one we read as she pretty much asks for Spot every nap and bed time (I think Daddy might be a bit sick of it!). I might need to add Spot to our 'Story Book Classics' series of posts.

The Moomins by Tove Jansson
BookBairn loves these Moomin books which are great interactive stories - one with lift the flaps and one with turn the wheel interactive elements. I'm not entirely sure how much she really appreciates these stories but she enjoys looking for things so it's great fun to read with her. It's also lovely because I love the Moomin characters so I'm hoping this will be a nice early introduction to stories that we can share together.

And a special mention goes to Mummy's Favourite:

Ready Steady Mo! by Mo Farrah. Kes Grey and Marta Kissi
I love this book. It's bold, bright and cheerful! And Kes Grey's rhyming skills fit beautifully telling a short story of little Mo - the Olympic champion who wants us all to put on our running shoes and get out there and run! It's sweet and uplifting. And having been swept up in the Olympics it's absolutely perfect and is a great book of the moment! Full review coming soon.

Hope you've enjoyed reading about our favourite books of the moment. I'll aim to update this list once every six weeks or so, so keep an eye out for changes to our favourites list.

Mummy and BookBairn xx

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Most people who know me will know that I have a fascination with foreign languages and collecting foreign words. I have, in fact, just treated myself to a little book 'Lost in Translation: An Illustrated Compendium of Untranslatable Words' by Ella Frances Sanders, which is full of brilliant words that just can't be translated directly into English. A favourite word I have just collected is:

Illustration by Anjana Iyer

You'll understand that this sums me up quite nicely! My 'to be read' pile is becoming quite precarious on my bedside table.

Growing up I dabbled in learning many languages: Spanish, Italian, German but mostly French. I studied French at university and, as part of that, spent a year abroad, living and teaching (as an English Language Assistant in a High School) just outside Paris. It was pretty magical. I would love for BookBairn to grow up with foreign language skills and when better to start than right now? She is absorbing language at an alarming rate!

I discovered a lovely series of books by Abigail Samoun with illustrations from Sarah Watts called 'An Adventure in Eight Languages'. There are six books in the series, each starring a different animal learning to say a key word or phrase in different languages: thank you, goodbye, please, hello, I love you and my name is. BookBairn has grasped a few of these words in English so I thought it would be fun to get a couple of the books and look at the words in different languages (maybe I will learn something too?!).

In 'How Penguin Says Please!' we take off for a trip around the world with Penguin and learn to say please in French, Russian, Arabic, Hindi, Mandarin, Japanese and Spanish (along with English). We see Penguin politely requesting ice cream from her sun loungers, buying fish in the Chinese market and drinking tea in India. Penguin is sweetly dressed in a blue dress and matching beret and flutters her eyelashes all around the globe. She is also accompanied by a little green frog (I hope he doesn't get spotted in France!) who peeks over her shoulder along the journey. BookBairn is pretty good at saying "peeees!" when she wants something, especially if that something is chocolate.

In 'How Tiger Says Thank You!' Tiger learns good manners in the same eight languages. She says 'merci' for her balloon outside Notre Dame in Paris, buys Russian matryoshka (nesting) dolls in the market and thanks her driver of the rickshaw in China. Tiger has a lovely smile and dressed in her purple spotty dress she enjoys the local culture and getting her photos snapped with her iguana buddy. Again, BookBairn says "ta!" when she has been given something, though often it's with a snatching action as she grabs whatever she is after.

In 'How Gator Says Good-Bye!' we travel with Alligator across the globe as he meets friends and departs for new destinations saying 'good-bye' in the same eight languages from the series. He waves to friends at the pyramids, and on the river Seine, and as he boards the bullet train in Japan. Alligator is adorable illustrated wearing a blue bow-tie and braces with cute buck-teeth. It's no wonder he has so many friends to wave good-bye to, he's so sweet! He has a little mouse buddy along with him for his adventures too! BookBairn has just started saying "bye bye" (having previously always favoured "ta ta") which always makes me feel so much better leaving her when she waves goodbye with a smile.

Each of the books is sweetly illustrated and very child-friendly with animals galore to spot. Sarah Watts has paid great attention to detail in her background illustrations by featuring landmarks and monuments from around the world, and grown-ups (or slightly older readers) will have great fun discussing these/figuring out where they are travelling. Each book starts in the airport or on the plane with the animals beginning their adventures and in a round trip ends back at the airport. All the books have an additional final page spread of a 'travel map' of the world with each of the animal's destinations starred and an adorable image of the main character wearing sunglasses flying their own plane! The structure of the books is appropriately repetitive for little ones and places the new words in the centre of the page. It also has in square brackets underneath the phonetic pronunciation of the phrases (which greatly helped me!).

These are a lovely introduction for very little ones to the idea that in different places around the world they use different languages and words to mean the same thing. Each picture is packed with detail that you could discuss why the main character is saying "thank you" or "please". They really are beautifully produced and well-thought-out books. And are great for little linguists!

I would love to read full-length picture books to BookBairn in foreign languages, particularly in French, and am looking for recommendations for good ones. I'd prefer not to just get translations of popular English books that have been translated and would rather find ones by native authors and illustrators so would love it if you could comment below or send us a message on Twitter or Facebook with your recommendations. Or snap a photo of a children's bookshop whilst abroad and tag us in it on Instagram. We aren't going abroad on out holidays this year (having take a career break to spend more time with BookBairn means some sacrifices) so would love to see your holiday finds!.

Merci, Spasibo, Shukran, Dhanyavaad, Xie Xie, Arigato and Gracias for reading!

Mummy and BookBairn x

*DISCLAIMER* We requested a selection from this series of books from the publisher and received these three books in response. All words and opinions are, as always, my own.

Click on the images below to find these books on amazon.co.uk

*This post contains Affiliate links.

When I was first pregnant with BookBairn I was pretty much convinced I was having a boy. I was drawn to all the cute little boy clothes in the shops. And when I found out she was a girl, I was surprised and it took me a while to get used to pink. I'm not really a pink girl myself. And that newborn collection is always the most sugary pink. In the end I needn't have bothered embracing all things girly and pink. Now that BookBairn is becoming old enough (and willful enough) to express her own interests it turns out she's not that into pink either (unless it's her new Peppa Pig pyjamas which she is obsessed with!). She loves "ga-reeeen" (green) and favours orange toys (she always puts the orange coins in her piggy bank last).

And she loves vehicles. She loves her toy cars and her train set and let's not even mention buses! She's full on obsessed with spotting buses. It makes our walks out and about a bit more interesting that those I previously mentioned in our 'All Kinds of Cars' post. We are lucky because we live in farming country and are near the farmer's fields so we often see tractors and combine harvesters on our walk. And we walk past both the fire and police stations and beside the railway line on our walks to the park or duck pond. We have lots of interesting transport on our door step! Perfect for my little transport fan!

I recently picked up another couple of brand new shiny books in our library (you know how much I love those - read here). The 'Amazing Machines' series by Tony Mitton and Ant Parker are a great collection of early word primers that all focus on different vehicles. Each book focuses on a different theme: numbers, colours, sounds and opposites. Packed full of fascinating vehicles these books have really engaged BookBairn.

Her favourite is definitely the 'Sounds' book and she loves doing impressions of the train and the fire engine (I don't particularly like, however, that the plane goes "bump bump" - I hate turbulence!). But she loves seeing all the different vehicles and flicks through the pages often and names what she can see. We also enjoy the 'Colours' book as it has a submarine on the cover which she now easily recognises thanks to her play submarine.

BookBairn has just started becoming interested in numbers and I think the 'Numbers' book would be great for her when she is a bit older (at the moment she just randomly says two, six and ten). And the 'Opposites' book is great but the concepts are a little bit beyond her understanding when presented in illustrations rather than in a real world context, but again, she would love this one when she gets a bit older.

All of the books are wonderfully illustrated using bold and bright colours against plain white backgrounds making the vehicles the stars of the show! They also feature an array of animals operating the vehicles which makes them seem cute: it feels odd to describe a digger as "cute" but these illustration really are. Each book also features a 'review' style page at the end with miniature images of all the illustrations from the book and repeats the vocabulary. These are hidden under a large flap, encouraging little ones to reveal the page showing all the vehicles.

They are a lovely little collection if you have a vehicle-lover like me! I'm sure we will be out and about spotting cars, buses, tractors, etc on out walks again soon and I hope these books will help to expand BookBairn's vocabulary encouraging her to describe them with colours or repeat the sounds they make.

Happy Tractor-Spotting!

Mummy and BookBairn xx

*DISCLAIMER* We borrowed these from our library!

We are most certainly Book Lovers in this house. And BookBairn is a huge fan of baby-led reading, which is just another way of saying she loves scattering her books across the whole floor as she explores her favourite stories!

Hope you all have a lovey bookish day!

Mummy and BookBairn x